Rain or Shine
by Abusive Pen
Summary: He believed her to be stubborn and ignorant and she she didn't know what he wanted from her. Why couldn't things just stay as they were? Because people don't normally sleep in someone else's bed and believe nothing was going to change. They eventually do.
1. Something's Missing

A/N: If you haven't already noticed I re-edited this story a bit. New title, slightly new concept and with new intentions. This is a little too much fluff for me if I do say so myself. I love tons of angst, and you'll be getting some (not a lot of it) maybe in the next chapter mixed with a bit of fluff. Who knows, read on!

Reviews would be lovely. :D

**B&B**

_I'm going to love you, baby, come Rain or Shine._

The sound of hissing thunder against the tiny windows scared Rukia. Actually scared couldn't even begin to describe what Rukia felt. The petite brunette curled into a ball when thunder roared again. Maybe if she rocked herself the fear would dissipate, then again, that attempt never really worked. If she blocked it out of her mind, thought of something else, it would go away. Rukia knew she couldn't how feeble it was; never in her life had she been used to the sound of thunder.

Thunder struck; she whimpered. The only remedy she knew of was to cry it out. Rukia knew she couldn't do that; not with the situation at hand. He would hear her whimpers and cries. The brunette clad in his t-shirt, that fit her too big, didn't want him to hear. It was bad enough that had saved her thousands of times, but to have him hear her cry! The thought was unbearable; she couldn't live with herself if he heard her.

Rukia showed signs of weakness too often and she hated herself for that. Rukia was, after all, a member of the Kuchiki family. They were taught to never show emotion; the emotion was defeat. Though, there she was vulnerable, scared and trembling. She held her tears in; Rukia didn't want to submit.

She didn't want him to hear her! Damn it! Then again weird things tend to happen even when you live in a guy's closet.

The closet door quickly opened. There Ichigo stood half asleep and in nothing but black pajama pants. Rukia looked up slowly in fear of him being mad. He wasn't mad; Ichigo was far from it. He yawned, one hand on his forehead. With his other free hand Ichigo beckoned for her. "Come here." He said in a low, hush tone, she complied. They were two feet apart and Ichigo sighed. In one fluid motion, Rukia was in Ichigo's arms. He carried her towards his bed, lying her down gently on the mattress. Ichigo then laid down too and quickly grabbed a nearby blanket. Ichigo turned to face her, his eyes wide open. "Dork. If you're scared then say something." He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him. "I will protect you." With one sleepy sigh, Ichigo fell asleep.

Rukia stared in wonder. She didn't have an explanation for what just happened. She didn't even know if she was making it all up. What she did know was that she was comfortable this way. Rukia liked being in his arms and she liked that her small frame fit his tall one perfectly. Maybe it was okay for him to hear her cry because he was there to protect her.

She nuzzled her head in his chest. Her eyes heavy and slowly, Rukia fell asleep. She forgot about the thunder and rain that was outside


	2. Cannonball

A/N: Angst, some slight fluff, mixed with some of my own frustration here. Don't worry kids, this gets better by the next chapter, at least I hope it does. *Shrugs* By the way, this and the next chapter are in Ichigo's POV.

Reviews would be lovely. :D

**B&B**

During the day they pretended that nothing happened.

That she didn't crawl into his bed in the middle of the night.

That he didn't move the blankets invitingly for her.

That she didn't snuggle in his chest, that his arms weren't wrapped around her waist protectively and that this late night occurrence had not become part of their lives.

No, during the day they pretended nothing happened.

Rukia would be gone before Ichigo got up in the morning and he would lie there, wondering if that day, would be the day, they would talk about it.

But it never was, and Ichigo would lie there, every morning, wondering if it had just been a dream. Because she wasn't there anymore and the warmth he felt at night in his arms had disappeared and this, he realized, frustrated him.

How she could act like nothing happened. How he let himself act like nothing happened. How she could sit next to him everyday in that classroom, without much of a glimmer of recognition of what went on in the night.

Ichigo was sure he put his heart out on the line there. Wasn't she aware of that? Wasn't she aware of the pain she caused him? Couldn't Rukia see this?

Well, no, he figured. Unless it was an actual, physical injury on him, he knew she wouldn't be aware of it. At this he suddenly laughed at. To think that she would make such a fuss over his physical condition, make sure he wasn't bleeding to death or out lying in some ditch in the middle of nowhere and yet, not be aware of the emotional turmoil she was causing him lately was funny to him.

In a morbid sense, of course.

He ran his fingers through his orange colored hair, trying to shake off the self-loathing he knew all to well was coming when he allowed himself to think about this because Ichigo knew, he wasn't going to get an answer today.

And maybe, since he was already in a self-pitying mode, Ichigo thought he never would.


	3. Make Me Over

A/N: This is short I know, but well, to be honest I had no idea how to continue this story. *Is shot* This is just to appease all of your unending IchiRuki appetites, for now because I only have one more week of school which are finals, and not just you average type of finals, college finals. Holy Crap! They start tomorrow! I have to get back to studying. Ha like I really was studying before. (I was reading Bleach) *Sheepish Grin*

Anyways reviews would be lovely. :D I'm going to "study'' for my Spanish final now (I will study, I have too. I want my A) and maybe after finals are over, and I settled back at home for the summer I'll update.

**B&B**

"What are we doing here?" Ichigo said in the middle of the night, he looked over her sleeping form. "I mean I don't mind this; whatever this is." His muscled hands traced the contours of her body. "It's just, I wish we could talk."

Silence filled in the small bedroom and he turned to look at the ceiling above.

"Yeah, I know. You're asleep. It's just," He sighed. "I want you. I want to be with you. Forever." He breathed in deeply, afraid of admitting something like this, because no matter how many times he said it, even though when she couldn't really hear him, admitting that there was something more in the attention he would give her - well doing that felt like a punch in the gut. Or in his case, being stabbed several times by her brother, a time he felt that all hope was completely lost.

Torture. Were his feelings supposed to be like such torture? Such wonder and anguish? He couldn't stand it, Ichigo wanted something to be done.

"Sometimes, you drive me crazy and I don't know what I'm supposed to do with you. No scratch that. You drive me crazy all the time. When you risk yourselves for others, afterwards, I don't know if I should yell at you, or just grab and kiss you to death. Really, the thought has crossed my mind so many times, I can imagine your lips taste like strawberries." He laughed quietly to himself. "But you're so stubborn and ignorant and you always want to fight with me about everything and anything. Especially about those damn bunny drawings, you can't draw for shit, but you keep at it." He smiled to himself.

Ichigo wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "I'm not sure what I supposed to do with you anymore. Rukia, you're crushing my heart here."

"Hnn." Was the response he got from a sleeping Rukia and he smiled. Typical Rukia, leave it to her to sleep through his admissions of love and fear.

That's when it hit Ichigo, like a kick from a certain shinigami he knew. His resolve, he found it.. He didn't understand how a light sleeping noise from Rukia could do it but it did. No scratch that, it was Rukia, being herself that did it. Typical Rukia with her eccentric taste in rabbits and strawberries. She was no easy person to fall for and he knew she wasn't going to allow herself to fall in with anybody easily either.

Could he really forget that about her? Ichigo was so stuck on his own feelings that he didn't really think about expressing them the right way to her. He wasn't going to allow that anymore because she was a dense type of person who needed to be shown, who needed to have Ichigo's feelings expressed. "You and I, we are going to talk about this soon. Real soon and proper with no distractions and with no one interrupting us. I'm not letting this chance with you to slip from me again." Ichigo said and he kissed her lightly on the cheek before falling asleep.


End file.
